Parents are hoping a recently-appointed headteacher can turn around a middle school that has been told it needs to improve.

St Edward's CE Academy, in Leek, has been rated as 'requires improvement' following an Ofsted inspection last month.

Inspectors found significant gaps in the quality of teaching and pupils' progress, and said standards had been allowed to 'drift'.

The school's fortunes have taken a downturn since it was rated 'good' in a previous inspection in 2014.

But the inspection team said measures to improve standards were underway, following the appointment of new principal Tom Hutchinson last year.

Ofsted's recently-published report said St Edward's needs to improve:

The effectiveness of leadership and management;

The quality of teaching, learning and assessment;

Outcomes for pupils.

However, the report said that pupils' personal development, behaviour and welfare were 'good', and noted that students were 'polite and friendly'.

St Edward's Academy in Leek has been rated as 'requires improvement' by Ofsted

Inspectors found staffing issues had caused problems at the school, which has 738 pupils aged between 9 and 13. The report states: "Following a period of upheaval, leaders are yet to secure a good quality of teaching. Staffing difficulties have hampered progress.

"Pupils’ current progress is variable and, in mathematics and science, it is typically below average.

"The quality of teaching varies considerably. Where it is weaker, teachers do not set tasks that enable all groups of pupils in the class to make good progress.

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"Teachers often do not provide pupils with enough feedback on how to improve their work. When teachers do provide guidance, pupils commonly fail to follow it."

Inspectors said the academy trust had now taken 'decisive action to address declining academic standards and major weaknesses in leadership and governance', and Mr Hutchinson had drawn up 'well-judged and detailed plans for improvement'.

The report states: "Leaders and governors have put in place new procedures and radically raised their expectations of staff and pupils.

“However, many beneficial changes are relatively recent and their impact on standards has been reduced somewhat by staff absence and difficulties in appointing permanent teachers."

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Parents were supportive of the school, and hoped it would soon improve. Rachel Heath, aged 35, from Bradnop, who has a 12-year-old son at St Edward's, said: "The report is disappointing. I really hope the leadership team continues to turn the school around and they are supported in the next 24 months in doing so.

"The new head seems passionate about doing this."

Fellow parent Bill Pogmore said his 10-year-old and 12-year-old children were happy at the school. The 58-year-old, from Leek, said: "I'm not worried about the report.

"My children are happy in the school and the pupils seem to have taken to the new headteacher."

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“They added that we have effective teachers and middle leaders who need to continue to share their best practice and embed the systems and structures that have been recently revised.

“I know that I have a team of staff who can deliver outstanding education and as the report states we are already well on the way to implementing excellent education provision. As a team, we are committed to providing the very best for every individual child.”